Essar in talks to buy three Shell refineries in Europe

British energy giant Royal Dutch Shell is considering to sell three of its refineries in Europe to the Ruias-owned Essar Oil Ltd.

Shell is in exclusive talks with Essar to sell its Stanlow refinery in northwest England and Heide and Hamburg units in Germany, a company spokesperson said. We are only talking to Essar, he said, adding that talks with other interested parties had ended but did not identify them.

The three refineries have a combined capacity of nearly 23 million tonne and the acquisition, if successful, would be done through Essar Energy Holdings Ltd, a unit of Essar Oil.

Yes. Essar has entered into an exclusive negotiation with Shell for buying Shells refinery at Stanlow in UK and Heide and Harburg in Germany, an Essar spokesperson said when asked for comments. However, it is too premature to comment any further on the matter.

The Hamburg unit has a capacity to process 1,10,000 barrels per day of crude oil (5.5 million tonne a year), while Heide has a capacity of 91,000 barrels a day (4.55 million tonne). Stanlow, Britains second-largest refinery, can process 2,33,000 barrels a day (11.65 million tonne).